Wire fabric



W. J. PINE. WIRE FABRIC. APPLICATION HLED- IU'NE H. 1917. RENEWED OCT. 11,1920.

1,372,309. Patented Mar.22,19'21.

WITNESSES: INVENTOR aw fag Y UNITED, STATES PATENT OFFICE.

wrmann. J- rmn, or xnnosrrn, WISCONSIN.

i WIRE rAnRIo.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Mar. 22 1921 Application filed June 11, 1917, Serial No. 173,953. Renewed October 11, 1920. Serial No. 416,295.

To all whom it may concern: 1

Be it known that I, WILBER J. PINE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Kenosha, county of Kenosha, and State of Wisconsin, have invented new and useful Improvements in Wire Fabrics, of which the following is a specification. A a

My present invention relates to new and useful improvements in wire fabrics of a resilient nature, and particularly adapted for use inconnection with spring mattresses.

It is the object of my invention to simplify the structure and to increase the resiliency of spring fabrics of this nature in such manner that the yielding action of the fabric when used as a mattress conforms to the general contour of a person when lying thereon, and further-in such mannerthat the increased resiliency does not permit an ex cessive general sagging of the central portion of the fabricwhen in use, and particularl to provide a form of construction in which the transverse yielding action is confined mainly to that portion of the mattress on which a person lies, instead of occurring in the central ortion to such an extent as to make it difficu t for ersons lying thereon to avoid sliding or ro ling toward the center. i

It is more particularly my object to provide an arrangement whereby the resilient yieldingof longitudinal series of units in that portion of the mattress fabric on which a person lies provides for an additional transverse resilient resistance within said occupied portion of the mattress fabric to thus take up the sagging tendency of the fabric betweenthe points of the salient portions of a persons body.

"With the above and other objects and advantages in view,my invention resides more particularly .in the novel combination, for

mation and'arrangement of parts hereinafter described and more particularly pointed out in the accompanying claims.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a plan view of a portion of wire mattress fabric constructed in accordance with my invention.

Fig. 2 is a transversesectional view there through on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Referring now more particularly to the accompanying drawings, the present embodiment of my improved fabric comprises a series of bent wire units mutuall connected longitudinally of the body of abric when pressure afforded by used as a mattress, and these series of units are secured together in spaced relation by transverse tie links connected with the units at their ends.

Each of these units is formed of a single length of wire bent outwardly with respect to the unit at portions equally spaced from and adj acentits center to form helical coils 5,-and the end sections 6 of the wire are extended fromthese coilsin crossed relation and terminatein eyes 7 disposed in planes at right angles to the planes of the helical eyes 5-, and adapted for interlocking engage ment with the eyes 5 of a succeeding unit, thesections 6 thus extending diagonally of the unit. The intermediate portion 8 of the wire between the helical eyes 5 thus serves as a tie member for the adjacent endsof the crossed sections 6, and the other ends of the sections are tied by means of their engagement in the eyes 5 of the succeeding unit. It is noted that the axes of the end sections 6 normally intersect the axes of the helical eyes5, whereby to afford a maxi mum resilient yielding upon stress being apin said eyes, this yielding being mainly Ion-i.

gitudinal, and furtheryielding of the longitudinal series of units would, of course, be

procured by means of the usual end springs (not'shown) of the mattress. Upon the application of load strain to the longitudinal series of units, the sections 6 thereof would tend to swing into alinement in view of their normal diagonal relation, and this action would obviously draw the eyes 5 together and procure-a bowing of the intermediate tie sections 8 of the units. At the points of the greatest load strain, and consequently the lowest points of the mattress, an additional resistance to this bowing tendency would be provided in a transverse direction by the tie links 9, and thus the tie portions 8 adjacent said points of greatest load strain would tend to etain their normally straight V The tie fabric at the load points,

shape to thus provide for an additional width of the fabric body at said points, which additional width would-obviously permit a greater yielding and thus the fabric will in its yielding action conform to the longitudinal contour of a person lying thereon.

links 9 by reason of their loose connection with the eyes 5 permit considerable free relative-movement of the units, except as they. are involved in meeting the transverse strain, and thus do not unduly act to distribute yielding movement.

Inasmuch as the essential feature of my point,..intermediate of the ends of the unit where the wires are crossed. Each of these four arms also extends divergently from the arm of the next unit to which it is connected, none of the connected arms being in alinement with each other. Therefore, my improved fabric is adapted to yield longitudinally by adding the yielding movement of one unit to that V of the next, through the longitudinal series, such yielding movement of each unit in the series being derived from the converging movements of the arms at the respective ends .of the units as these arms pansion being,

tend to swing toward a. parallel position. 1

Similarly, the units in a transverse series are adapted toexpand or contract to increase orfdiminish "the width of the fabric, the exbars 8 and links 9, which determine the ultimate width.-

w It will further be observed that in my improved "fabric, the units are adapted to' shift Ibodily to'some extent, owing to their capability ofyielding both" longitudinally and transversely, and owing to the fact that the units to which they are connected in both longitudinal and transverse series are also capable of transversely;

lclaimz 1. A resilient wire fabric, comprising the combination of-transversely and longitudinally-connected series of like units, each unit comprising crossed sections provided tudinally yield longitudinally by of course, limitedby the cross movements from yielding longitudinally and.

with eyes at the respective ends of the sec-- tions, the eyes of one end of each section being connected with each other, and also connected with the eyes of transversely adj acent like units, and with the eyes of lon iadjacent like units, whereby t e units composing each longitudinal series may drawing the ends of the unit sections toward each other subject to lateral tension exerted by the connected units of the transverse series.

2. A resilient wire fabric, comprising the combination of transversely and longitudinally connected series of like units, each unit comprising a single end eyes at one endof the unit, and having crossed sections provided with intermediate eyes at the other end of the unit, the wire composing the intermediate eyes being crossed and integrally connected between the eyes to form a flexible bow, said intermediate eyes being connected with those of transversely adjacent units by interlocking flexibly jointed links, and being also interlocked with the end eyes of the wire composing the next unit in the longitudinal series, whereby the units composing each longitudinal series may yield longitudinally by drawing the unit sections toward parallel lines subject to lateral tension in the bows and cross links.

3. A resilient fabric comprising like units, each connected directly at its respective ends with like units in multiple series which extend both longitudinally and transversely of the fabric, and the longitudinal series of units being connected transversely by tie links, each unit having resilient arms extending radially from a common point intermediate of the ends of the unit, and each arm extending obliquely with reference to the arm. with which it is connected, whereby the arms of the respective units are adapted for resilient spreading and contracting normal position, in directions permitting longitudinal expansion and contraction, and inversely permitting transverse expansion and contraction, and wherev by the units are also adapted to yield bodilv in any direction in the plane of the fabric, by reason of the transverse and longitudinal yielding of the other like units of which the fabric is composed.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

' WILBER J. PINE.

Witnesses:

V. H. CARDIFF, D. J. McDnnMoT'r.

piece of wire having 

